Sports

Cornell Has Strong Start to Ivy League Play in Win Against Columbia

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This past weekend, Cornell volleyball (3-7, 1-0 Ivy) kick-started its Ivy League play in a match against Columbia (2-8, 0-1 Ivy).  

“The first match is always stressful, because we had to do a lot of work to get ready against a team that is very similar to us in how they played in the pre-season,” said head coach Trudy Vande Berg. 

The hard work paid off, as the Red improved to 3-7 on the season, while Columbia fell to 2-8. Sophomore outside hitter Nicole Mallus paced the Red against Columbia in the four sets it took to seize the match by netting a career-high 17 kills.   

“The highlight of the game for me was seeing everyone do their jobs and implementing the stuff we’ve been working so hard on,” Mallus said. 

Vande Berg echoed the sentiment. “We don’t have to go above and beyond what we’re capable of doing. We just have to do our jobs, which we did,” Vande Berg said. In the first set, the Red started off with a 12-6 lead that would eventually advance to 23-18, a lead similar to the one the Red had in its second set against the Hawkeyes the week prior. 

“We were up against Columbia and the score was identical to Iowa,” Vande Berg said.